Noiseless railway-crossing.



W. L. HARDER. NorsELEss RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED MN. 1B. )918.

www

ash] A :nza-r.-

Chtozmg open not only to shift them but a WILLIAM L. BARBER, GF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

NOISE-'LESS RAILWAY-CROSSHQ'G. V

` 1 ,271,312 Specification of Letters Patent.

' Application led January 18, 1918. Serial No. 212,441. To all @IJ/wm z't may concern.' I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. Hannan, a c itizen ofthe United* States of America, residing atfBirmingham, in the county of eii'erson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Noiseless Railway-Crossings, of which the followin is a specification.

This invention re ates to a noiseless railway crossing adapted to present a continuous rail to support the wheels of street cars and trains. in traversing the crossing from any direction.

he object oi my invention is to provide a simple and positive mechanism ada ted to be actuated by the flanges of a proac ing w eels to automatically adjust t e movable track elements, of the crossing .into position to present a continuous rail for the passage of the wheel` ore particularly it 4is the object of my inventionto divide each crossing rail proper into relatively slidable sections,the two sections which conv-erge toward each crossin corner being pivotally connected a heil ing cross connected so as to produce the requisite movement of all crossing rail sections simultaneously.

A further object of my l design the crossing rails with tapered elongated heads at the track rails so shaped as to be engaged and shifted laterallyl by the wheel H'ange with `a movement sufiiciently ositive to so to shift into proper position the other crossin rail sections with which they are connecte y invention also com rises the various details of construction an arrangements of parts; which in their preferred embodiment only are illustrated 1n the accompanying drawings,r in which n Y y Figurel presents in plan my improved street railway crossing with the cover plate partly broken'away to' illustrate the bell crank construction.

Fig. 2 is'a sectional `view taken on the broken section line 2-2 of` Fig. 1.`

n 1 i Aavoid their being sii'aged by invention is to Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the section line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference numerals refer to simi-- lai' parts throughout the drawin s.

As illustrated, the crossing is s own connecting the track rails 1. 2, 3 and 4 forming one track .with the rails 5, 6, 7 and S forining the crossing track. The ends of these several rails are inserted in and connected by bolts 9 to corner brackets l() which in turn are connected by bolts 1l to the 11min bed plate l2. These brackets aro rectangular castings :ind at their aportes are recessed to receive manganese inscris 1li` The several crossing rails forming eontiiiliations of the various track rails being identical in construction only one need be described.

tach crossing `rail conijnfises two sections 14 and 15 which are similar except for their end portions 16 which are shaped to lap along the longitudinal center line of the rail and have their ends beveled so as to avoid joints at right angles to said center line. The lapping ends 16 are complementary and together forni a continuation of the crossing rail in all positions but are chainfered on tlieirfadjacent top edges to the pounding of the wheels. At its free end each section comprises a head 17 disposed opposite one side of tbe adjacent manganese insert 13 und having an outward extension inclined relatively to such insert in a direction away from the adjacent track rail. This gives the head a Wedging Contact Lice 18 which at its end farthest from the crossing is sufi iiciently spaced from the track rail to prevent the wheel flan e ever riding over the same. It is Contemp ated that the approaching wheel flanges will, when the crossing rails require adjustment thereby. contact with these Wedging faces 18 and shift the near transverse crossing rail sections toward each other and away -from the manganese inserts, thus affording a clear path for the succeeding wheel flanges. This movement of the near crossing rail sections is imparted by each to its respective bell crank 19, one of which at each corner of the crossing is pivoted to rock about a vertical bearing pin Patented July 2, 1918.

20 which also serves to connect t0 the bed plate l2 the cover plate 21. Each-end of the bell crank is rounded and inserted in. a socket 22 in the two adjacent crossing rail sections 14 and 15, care being taken to avoid any appreciable lost-motion in such` joint. Each bell crank will therefore connect the adjacent angularly disl'ioscdcrossing rail` sections l-l and 15, and a crossing rail section 14 or l5 is shifted by the approaching wheel flange, its 2o-related crossing rail section 15 or .14 will he moved toward the approaching wheel and against the manganese insert so as to close the open track joint at that point. In order to simultaneously j 'iroduce similar and correspondingly closed joints at the other corners of the crossing cach bell crank is provided with an arm 23 disposed in, convenient position to be connected by a rod 24 to the corresponding arm of the diagonally opposite crank 19. One of the connecting rods 24 is bolted to the nnderface of thearms 23 which it connects, and the other rod 24 is bolted to the upper face of the arms which it` connects, and thus the two arms clear as they work under the cover plate 21, which leaves ample working clearance for them.

In order to confine sections 14 and 15 ot each crossing rail to a straight line movement these rail sections have dove-tail bases 25 which are received between and guided by two angle bars k2G which are bolted to the base plate and have their upturned faces sloped to conform to the slopingr sides of the rail bases. The mar final edges of the cover plate are 4sloped ownwardly at 27 to engage and rest on the top edge' of the inner guide plates 26. I also provide four inverted U-shaped cover plates 28, each of which' has oneA downitnrned: ange 29 rsting onstlie t 4 1gfuide plate 2 i, turned flange 30 seated in a longitudinal Y groove in the bed plate to which the cover the heads 17 of plate is screwed by cap there being one of these outer edges of each pair of crossingi rail sections. l

In operation, it will be noted that the crossing rail sections between the track rails 1, 2 and 3, 4,'stand in position with their heads 17 spaced from the manganese inserts 13, sulicientlytoclearthe wlheelli Screws or fbolts 3l,

the othenrail sections stand in position engaging their respective man ganeseinserts,th1|s closing the crossing joint for ,Wheels approaching on the rails 5, 6, or 7, 8, as the latter will ride from the'rails across the brackets andover the inserts onto the crossing rails and over their lapped por- 16 acrossthe other manganese inserts og odg@ ojjthc .adjacent onf-ter l'and having its outer down pltsillvngdc. the v onfsaid base near each corner anges while and brackets onto the main track beyond and in makingr such passage there will he no jolting or jarring on the wheels due to open joints in the crossing. Should a street car approach the crossing on the tracks 1, 2, or

3, 4, thc' approaching wheel flanges will engage the edging faces 18 of the near crossinar rail reads 17 and will force the latter laterally away from the manganese' inserts so as topermit the passage of the Wheel flanges.' In thusforcing the near rail heads inwardly, the connected bell cranks 19 will be rocked and will immediately draw the crossing rail sections ahead of the approaching wheels toward the latter and into contact with the manganese inserts, thus closing the near joints while the corresponding closure of the far joints will be effected through the operation of the cross connecting rods 24. The sections of the crossing rails are positively connected and positively moved by the wheels and under any ordinary operating conditions could not interfere with the passageof the wheel flanges in normal course over the crossing.

This invention is not intended to be restricted in scope to the specific embodiment shown, but contemplates such modifications as come within the spirit and scope of the claims. .i

Having thus described my invention, what claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automatic continuous railway crossing comprising in combination with the intersecting track rails, a base structure to which said rails are made fast, sectional crossing rails connecting the opposite track rails, each sectional track mil comprising,r two sections having their near ends provided with extensions forming a lap-joint arallel with Lthe crossn eiland having tlieir re- "m'f ,provi edwith wedge heads adapt- VfbeV en aged and moved hy' the flanges of -approac ing car wheels, guides on the base ,to confine the 'sections of each .crossing rail to alining travel, bell cranks pivoted of the crossing, their ends rounded in the two adjacent Said bell` cranks having and'inserted in sockets crossing rail sections, and operating rods disposed diagonally of the crossing and directly connecting diagonally opposite pairs of hell cranlisto cause the latter to move togetherto produce bajarse movements of corresponding crossing rsil sections, as and for the purposes described.

2. In a continuous railway crossing, sectional crossing.T rails having the sections of each crossing rail with :its adjacent sections lapped for parallel sliding movement, means to guide said sections in their alining movements, heads on the remote ends of the scctions of each crossing rail which are disposed tensions, and diagonal connecting rods, each to be engaged and moved by the approiwhhaving an adjustable connection to said 10 ing,r wheels, sockets 1n the sides ofrcrossing cranks on diagonally oposite bell cranks. mtl 1seolsionsl; slijt each cormr gf tle crossin, y In testimony whemof ailix my signature. a el cran avin roun e en s inserte in the sockets of Sagl adjacent pair of crossi WILLIAM L HARDER ing rail sections, the diagonally opposite 'bell Witness:

cranks having similarly disposed crank ex- Nouns WELsH. 

